Sound Division mixes with the stars at BAFTA's
Hollywood's A list plus the best of our own home-grown talent turned out in force for what has been billed as the most glamorous BAFTA Awards ceremony ever. Nicole Kidman, a heavily pregnant Catherine Zeta Jones, Daniel Day Lewis, Meryl Streep and Renee Zellwegger were just some of the celebrities who attended the Odeon Leicester Square marking the 54th anniversary of the Awards. The after-show party held in honour of the winners was a star-studded event for 300 guest that took place at the exclusive Sanderson hotel (dubbed "the hippest hotel in the world" by GQ Magazine) in the Long Bar and Spoon restaurant. Entertainment specialists Sound Division provided the audio system and DJ control equipment.
According to Sound Division's Chris Baxter who designed the sound system, the main criteria apart from sonic quality was that the system had to be as visually unobtrusive as possible so as not to detract from the impact of the room. Chris opted for a pair of ElectroVoice SX300 loudspeakers that were discreetly placed behind the legendary white drapes in the Long Bar and a Nexo PS-8 system for the restaurant Spoon. "We had a pair of PS-8s and a pair of LS400 subs plus a PS-8 power amp and controller because it's a system that both looks and sounds good. The LS400s in particular have a wonderful warm depth to them that sounds particularly good in Spoon. The other point is that the whole thing can be set up in no time at all, which was just as well because we were only allowed an hour from start to finish! In fact we were done in 50 minutes."
DJ Control was courtesy of two SL1210 turntables MkIII, an Allen & Heath Zone 62 mixer, a Denon 1800 CD player and a JBL G2 powered monitor. Chris continued, "The party went fantastically well – all the guests were on a high after the awards, and the venue both looked and sounded stunning. It was a great success."
February 2003